Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

May 7, 2004

Arab Democracy

Filed under: International — Bunker @ 3:20 pm

La Shawn and Sarah both share my view of the Arab world. They put words down better than I on the issue of Bush vs. The-Rest-of-the-World, but I had some thoughts in this regard about why so much is happening in the Arab World as we are about to return sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

Responsibility can be a heavy burden, especially when you’ve never had it before. Many people hunger for it under the false assumption they are being given authority. The two are inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. I’ve seen people take the reins of authority and try to steer a path for their organization, only to flounder when the first problem arises. They begin looking for someone to blame. I saw a company I worked for go under because the man in charge was an individual who could never admit his own failings, and refused to listen to wise counsel. One hundred people were on the street, and a thriving, viable business lost. When you take the authority, responsiblity goes with it.

This is true in the governance of a country. A representative government requires the involvement of the general populace. If you want a voice, there is a responsibility of understanding what is necessary, and making the effort to vote. The latter is easier, but less often done.

The Arab world has existed for three millenia. It has been ruled by various factions and individuals under the blanket authority of Islam for 1400 years. There are many Muslims who are not Arab, but few Arabs who are not Muslim. And it has been very easy for them throughout those 1400 years. They have had no authority. But neither have they had any responsibility. They simply did what they were told to do, and believed what they were told to believe. No thought required. And that served their masters well. Schools are few and far between in the Arab world. Those that exist in great numbers are the madrassas, which teach little except the Quran. What we in the West consider a classical education does not exist for everyone in the Arab world. Few are allowed the opportunity to train their minds.

There have been excellent schools in the past. American University in Lebanon once produced educated graduates. But education–knowledge–leads to questions. And Arab rulers have never tolerated questions. Knowledge is power. Better to keep it in the hands of the few who are best qualified to use it.

The fear is becoming thick in Iraq and the rest of the Arab, and Muslim, world. But it has less to do with the fear of the spread of democratic ideals than with the cold reality that there will be nobody to blame if this experiment fails except the Iraqis, and by extension, all Arabs themselves. It is new, and it means change. And it also means responsibility. Everyone wants authority, but few hunger for the responsibility that goes along with it. And that is doubly true in Iraq.

June 30 is fast approaching. That brass ring they think they want is just about within reach. And they are having second thoughts as they begin to realize what a representative government means. Some will be active participants in the effort to drive America out and intimidate the remaining populace. Others will be intimidated, because that’s what they know best to do. The majority who are frightened by the possibility of taking ownership of their own governance will support the other two groups either actively or passively. I don’t know, and neither does anyone else regardless of polls, what the percentage truly is who want change to come to the Arab world. As things unfold in Iraq, I’m becoming less optimistic. I think there is a majority who want to return to some form of autocratic government.

I’m not sure I blame them. Certainly they don’t want another Saddam Hussein, but life is stable, if simple and lacking in personal pleasures, in the rest of the Arab world. If you take care of a few simple obligations, bow to the proper people, and follow the dictates of the Imams and Ayatollhs, life goes on at a leisurely pace. All you need to do is agree to live in the 13th century with a few 20th century amenities designed and manufactured by others. And be content with stories of the glorious Arab past, when the entire known world trembled at the call to prayers.

Or, you can take charge of things, and accept the responsibilities that go along with that authority, and not look to blame your own failings on American Imperialism and Jewish control over the rest of the world.

Tough call? Not in the Arab world.

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